30 MACWORLD JUNE 2019
MACUSER REVIEW: RHAKE VX WEATHERPROOF LAPTOP BACKPACKa trashy umbrella. Half a
mile on, I was soaked.
Water seeped into
uncomfortable crevasses
in my jeans. But when I
unrolled the Rhake at
home, I found everything
inside as dry as a Steven
Wright (go.macworld.com/
stvw) routine. So let’s get
that out of the way: If you
want a bag that lets
MacBooks giggle at
hurricanes—this is it, chief.
The only catch is that
sometimes its design interferes with its
convenience.
SHAKE IT OFF
The Rhake can weather a storm, but with
its $365 starting price tag (go.macworld.
com/365d), you’ll want to make sure your
bank account can weather a beating
before picking one up. It’s worth it in the
right circumstances. So weatherproof is
the Rhake’s tough 500d nylon fabric, in
fact, that you might think it was crafted
from the same tarp used for heavy tents.
The model I received was actually the
$455 Rhake VX model, which is made
from even tougher VX-21 ripstop fabric.
Like a big of chips, it crinkles with every
move. When water hits it, it sounds like
those rain-at-the-campsite relaxation
tracks. Much of the bag has two layers of
this stuff, and you’ll find it in all the seven
compartments, including the deep main
cavity. The exceptions are few, but they
include the mesh sleeve that lets you slip
the Rhake over your luggage’s extendable
handles and the padding for the back and
shoulder straps.
The Rhake’s zeal for weatherproofing
extends beyond the exterior. Unravel the
rolltop (which you can hold in place with
either a velcro panel or a hook for speed),
and you’ll see the weatherproof fabric
reaching to the depths of the cavernous
25-inch main compartment. It’s kind of thin,
but I can stuff so many things in here that I
sometimes forget what lies at the bottom,
and photographers will like Mission
Workshop’s $130 “Capsule” for camerasThe straps feature Mission Workshop’s “Archiv” band that let
you attach other accessories if you need more space.